Qi Baishi: The Carpenter-turned Master Painter

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’ll talk about how Qi Baishi, a renowned Chinese painter of the 20th century, emerged from humble origins in central China’s Hunan Province to become a master of traditional Chinese painting.

Transcript

Qi Baishi: The Carpenter-turned Master Painter

In the first installment of what will be a two-part feature, we’ll talk about how Qi Baishi, a renowned Chinese painter of the 20th century, emerged from humble origins in central China’s Hunan Province to become a master of traditional Chinese painting.

2024 marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of Qi Baishi, one of the best modern Chinese painters, renowned for his distinctive and often whimsical artistic style. The Liaoning Provincial Museum curated a significant exhibition titled “Splendid and Rich Traditional Chinese Painting: Qi Baishi and His Masters, Friends, and Disciples,” featuring a comprehensive collection of 459 artworks by Qi and his contemporaries. These works not only highlight Qi Baishi’s artistic prowess but also embody enduring Chinese traditions that emphasize the importance of community. Evident throughout the master’s paintings are such virtues as cordiality, benevolence, and harmonious relations among neighbors.

On January 1, 1864, Qi Baishi, who was originally named Qi Chunzhi, was born in Xiangtan of central China’s Hunan Province. His family members worked as peasant farmers and were very poor. Qi would often go hungry, which caused him to suffer from poor health since childhood. However, as the eldest grandson in the family, he was dearly loved and began learning to read at the age of four under his grandfather’s guidance.

After finishing his studies, he would indulge in drawing, sketching everything from images of deities to flowers, plants, livestock, and fish. This early exploration laid the foundation for his later prominence in the art world. Unfortunately, these pursuits were soon interrupted. With poor harvests and the addition of two younger brothers to the family, Qi had to drop out of school after less than a year to help with household chores.

Due to his fragile health, Qi could only manage light tasks such as caring for his brothers, chopping wood, and tending to livestock. Concerned about his future, in 1874 – when he was just 12 years old – his family committed him to an arranged marriage. This was a common practice among poor families hoping to increase the household labor force. Three years later, Qi’s father arranged for him to apprentice in carpentry, where he learned to build houses, construct wooden frames, and to make farming tools and furniture. While this provided him with a means to support himself, his relatively weak constitution made the work strenuous.

One incident, however, led Qi to abandon his apprenticeship. One day, while walking with his master along a narrow path in the fields, they encountered a group of peers. The master respectfully stepped aside to let them pass, but they arrogantly ignored him without so much as a thank you.

Qi felt very indignant, but his master scolded him for not understanding the rules. Because the others were fine woodworkers, capable of crafting delicate and intricate items, even skilled in carving, this elevated their social status far above that of rough carpenters like Qi. Since then, Qi secretly vowed to become a fine woodworker and surpass others in skill. A year later, he sought apprenticeship with the renowned Zhou Zhimei, a fine woodworker who lived in the local area. Impressed by Qi’s quick wit and eagerness to learn, Zhou generously shared his knowledge with him.

In 1881, at the age of 19, Qi Baishi successfully completed his apprenticeship. His parents were overjoyed and officially arranged a wedding for him to marry the girl he had been promised to seven years prior named Chen Chunjun. After marriage, Qi traveled with his master, working as a woodcarver, while also studying the Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, one of the classical treatises on ancient Chinese painting, and incorporating its techniques into his carving. He became famous in the local region for his innovative designs, earning the title of “Master of Wooden Art”. During the day, he carved, and at night, he composed poetry. Qi and his wife had five children, which motivated him to work even harder.

One day while working at a client’s house, the client suddenly asked Qi to stop working. The client was Hu Qinyuan, a scholar and respected gentleman. Hu recognized Qi’s talent and generously offered to mentor him in painting and calligraphy. But despite this golden opportunity, Qi had his family to support. If he stopped working as a carpenter, they would lose their income. Recognizing Qi’s predicament, Hu Qinyuan told him that he could support his family by selling his paintings. So, in 1889, at the age of 27, Qi abandoned carpentry to study painting under Hu’s guidance, living with him permanently. Hu Qinyuan named him Qi Huang, with the pseudonym “Bai Shi Shan Ren,” (白石山人) from which the name Qi Baishi was derived. 

Qi Baishi began studying classical Tang poetry as well as the works of Confucius and Mencius while learning meticulous brushwork painting from his master. His artistic training primarily focused on mastering the fundamentals of gongbi (工笔) style. This style is characterized by its intricate brushwork and meticulous attention to detail. Hu Qinyuan shared all his knowledge with Qi, whom he considered his closest friend in life. Qi was instilled with the belief that every aspect of painting held significance, emphasizing not only the choice of subject matter but also the meticulous application of ink to the paper. 

Soon, Qi mastered the basics of art and started earning an income by selling his paintings. Later, he also learned engraving, which further increased his earnings making life at home somewhat easier. Because his paintings were admired for their beauty, he was jokingly called “Qi Meiren”(齐美人), or Qi the Beautiful.

Although he gained fame in his hometown, Xiangtan was still a small place. Encouraged by friends, Qi traveled extensively for eight years, enjoying feasts and gatherings, using his paintings to make friends. Upon returning home, he abandoned the meticulous brushwork style, adopting a more expansive and fluid freehand style. Each stroke of his brush was simple yet vivid, earning him even more popularity and filling his pockets. With his freshly acquired affluence and after years of wandering, Qi constructed a new house, and it appeared he would finally settle down. Unfortunately, shortly after the house was completed, he was forced to wander again.

In 1917, Xiangtan was plagued by constant military conflicts and banditry, leading to poor public security. Often, Qi couldn’t even afford a meal for the day and became nothing but skin and bones. It was during this time that his friend, writer Fan Fanshan, wrote to him, advising him to seek refuge in Beijing and support himself by selling his paintings. Reluctantly, the following year, Qi bid farewell to his parents, wife, and children, embarking on a journey alone to the north.

In the literary gathering places of Beiping, the old name of Beijing, nobody recognized him. Coming from a small town and with a carpenter’s background, Qi faced unrestrained discrimination. Some self-proclaimed “intellectuals” and celebrities looked down on his humble origins, mocking his paintings as too crude and unsuitable for refined taste. Therefore, in 1918, at the age of 54, Qi heard that the situation in his hometown had calmed down somewhat and decided to return south from Beijing.

However, upon his return, he found his home ransacked, with only bare walls remaining. Local bandits, upon hearing of his return, even spread rumors of his wealth, threatening to kidnap him for ransom. With no other choice, Qi and his family sought shelter in a thatched hut at the foot of a mountain. Soon after, he returned north again, determined to settle in Beijing. He lived temporarily in a temple, earning a living by selling paintings and engravings. However, his paintings hardly sold. Qi had learned the style of the renowned artist Bada Shanren (八大山人), also known as Zhu Da, a prominent Chinese painter and calligrapher who lived during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, characterized by elegance and coolness, which was no longer favored by the people of Beijing. While others sold their paintings for 4 silver coins, he could hardly sell his for 2, with few showing interest.

Eventually, one prominent figure within Beijing’s artistic community took a liking to his paintings. He was artist Chen Shizeng, a close friend of both Lu Xun, China’s most prominent writer at the time and Master Hongyi, a famous Buddhist monk and scholar. Chen Shizeng had come from a distinguished family; his grandfather, Chen Baozhen, rose to become the governor of Hunan Province, and his father, Chen Sanli, was a late Qing Dynasty poet. Chen Shizeng himself was highly accomplished in painting and engraving, and he was already well-known throughout Beijing.

Chen actively sought out Qi, and the two hit it off instantly, becoming close friends. Qi Baishi once said, “Without me, you cannot progress; without you, I will lag behind.” Under Chen Shizeng’s guidance, the aging Qi reinvented his style, creating the “Red Flower and Silent Leaves” school of painting, characterized by bold colors and flamboyance amid elegance. This new style gained popularity, gradually increasing his recognition.

Qi’s wife Chen Chunjun knew that Qi was lonely in Beijing while she remained in their hometown of Xiangtan. So, she specifically found an 18-year-old girl named Hu Baozhu to take care of his daily life. The 57-year-old Qi couldn’t resist her kindness and soon took Hu Baozhu as his second wife, which brought more responsibilities. Thus, from her teens to her forties, Hu Baozhu bore Qi Baishi five sons and two daughters. While raising children was a joy, the financial burden weighed heavily on Qi. He worked tirelessly, either painting or engraving, to earn money to provide for his children.

At the recommendation of his good friend Qi Rushan, Qi Baishi also befriended prominent figures in Beijing’s artist circle, such as Mei Lanfang, a legendary Chinese opera performer and Xu Beihong, a famed painter. Once, when Qi attended a gathering of literati, being modestly dressed and less renowned, he was completely ignored. Feeling isolated, he sat alone in a corner, but when Mei Lanfang arrived, he walked straight through the crowd to greet Qi warmly, shaking his hand and engaging in conversation.

Qi was deeply moved, so much so that he specially painted a piece titled Charcoal in the Snow to present to Mei Lanfang. Later, Mei Lanfang even became Qi Baishi’s disciple in 1924, studying painting under his guidance.

At this time, Mei Lanfang was already renowned in the Peking opera community. Qi told Mei that, “With such fame, calling me master would be too much of an honor for this old man. Let’s not even talk about formal apprenticeship.” But Mei Lanfang insisted on observing the rites of apprenticeship. Although Mei formally apprenticed himself to Qi to learn painting, their relationship was that of both teacher and friend. Mei took his painting studies very seriously. Whenever he didn’t have rehearsals or performances, he would go to Qi’s place to study painting on time.

Well, that’s the end of our first podcast about Qi Baishi, and we’ll present the second half next time. Our theme music is by the famous film score composer Roc Chen. We want to thank our writer Lü Weitao, translator Du Guodong, and copy editor Pu Ren. And thank you for listening. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please tell a friend so they, too, can understand The Context.